Close folding adjustable contour chair



Get. 4, 1955 ss 2,719,573

CLOSE FOLDING ADJUSTABLE CONTOUR CHAIR Filed Jan. 3, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l i i} U9 3; {5 E7 23 f +1 1 i: i' :i a 21 l: 22 i zs w l E 27 32 i i h b? "Ml J 547A lj INVENTOR.

BERTRAND R. LESSER ATTORNEY Oct. 4, 1955 LESSEQ CLOSE FOLDING ADJUSTABLE CONTOUR CHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 5, 1955 INVENTOR.

BERTRAND R. LESSER '3) 7; ATTORNEY Unitid S s Patent 1 O CLOSE FOLDING ADJUSTABLE CONTOUR CHAIR Bertrand R. Lesser, Forest Hills, N. Y., assignor to Duralite Company, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York 1 Application January 3, 1955, Serial No. 479,504

3 Claims. (Cl, 155105) The invention herein disclosed relates to folding chairs of the reclining type.

Important objects of the invention have been to provide a folding chair having new and improved features of construction and operation and whereby the chair when extended from folded condition may constitute a truly comfortable posture chair.

Special objects of the invention are to provide a chair of this character, comprising relatively few and simple interpivoted frame and link units, with all these so dimensioned and hingedly connected that the chair when collapsed is particularly compact, especially with regard to its length in collapsed condition.

Other special objects of the invention are to provide a chair as above, light but strong, and quickly and easily foldable to its compact collapsed form or extended to the contour form.

Further special objects of the invention are to provide a folding contour chair which while variable into differ ent adjustments by simple movements of' the body of an occupant of the chair, will in all cases be stable and safe against accidental collapse, overturning or the like.

Further special objects of the invention are to make it easy for the user to get into or out of the chair without special effort and to simplify the folding action.

Further special objects of the invention are to provide a chair in a simple, low cost construction made up of rela tively few readily assembled, sturdy parts.

Other desirable objects and the novel features of con-. struction, combination and relation of parts through whichthe purposes of the invention are attained, are set forth and will appear more fully in the course of the following specification.

The drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification illustrate a present commercial embodiment of the invention. Structure, however, may be modified and changed as regards the immediate illustration, all within the true intent and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined and claimed.

Fig. 1 in the drawings is a plan view showing the chair extended in occupant receiving condition;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the parts as arranged in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the backforming part of the chair inclined at a less angle to the horizontal than in Fig. 2, and also showing a supporting part of the chair for the legs of the user ata different adjustment;

Fig. 4 is an edge view showing the chair in fully col lapsed condition;

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the chair in partially collapsed condition;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of a frame unit, showing a part of the sling attached to said unit and details of attachment.

Basically the invention comprises four U-shaped frames, together with links or struts connecting the frames in pairs, and a flexible sling or hammock forming sup-.

2,719,573 Patented Oct. 4, 1955 ice porting material attached to two of said frames, one of which is a frame for supporting the back of a user of the chair and the other of which is a frame for supporting the major lengths of the legs of the user of the chair. All four frames and connecting links or struts may be of light aluminum tubing and the sling or hammock may be of canvas or the like.

Said four U-shaped frames, as shown, comprise a floor engaging frame 15 providing the back legs of the chair, a floor engaging frame 16 providing the front chair legs, an upper frame 17 for supporting the back, and another upper frame 18 for supporting the major lengths of the occupants legs; and said links or struts, as shown, comprise a pair of links 19 connecting the frames 15 and 17 at the two sides of the chair and a pair of links 20 connecting the frames 16 and 18 at the two sides of the chair.

The opposite ends of the sling 21 are shown as secured to the outer bar portions of the U-shaped frames 17 and 18. In the illustration one end of the sling, the upper end, is shown made as a loop 22, secured as by stitching 23, around the outer or upper bar portion of the back frame 17, and the opposite, lower end of the sling is shown made asas a loop 24 secured as by stitching 25, around the outer, lower bar portion of the front leg supporting frame 18. At spaced intervals along the length of the sling 21 are a plurality of transverse bands, tapes or straps, three of which are fully shown at 26 in Fig. 6. Each of these is suitably secured as by the stitching indicated in Fig. 6 to the underside of the sling. Each of said members 26 is shown as so arranged, as by being doubled on itself, to establish at each of its opposite ends a loop 27 projected beyond a side of the sling 21, for the interlacing therethrough of a cord or cable 28, with intervening turns of said cord or cable around the side bars (compare Figs. 1 and 3) of the frames 17, 15 and 18, for securement of the sling to the chair, as shown in the view last referred to.

As shown in Fig. 6, the opposite ends of the cord or cable 28, after the latter has been applied as just described and drawn tight, may be tied and knotted together as at 29.

It is also to be noted that the cable or cord 28 is wound around the side bars of the frame 15 only along the lengths of said side bars above the frame 16 as the chair is seen in Figs. 2 and 3; and further, that said cord is wound around the side bars of the frame 17 only above the upper end of the frame 16 as the chair is seen in Figs. 2 and 3.

The two floor engaging U-frames 15 and 16 are shown pivotally connected intermediate the ends of their side bars as by bolts or riveted pins 30.

The upper ends of the side bars of the frame 15 and the rear ends of the forward upper frame 18 are shown pivotally connected as by bolts or riveted pins 31; and said frame 15 is also shown as having the upper ends of its side bars connected by a spacing bar 32 indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 as of drop formation, this spacing bar being in advance slightly of the forward limit of the seat portion of the sling to provide clearance for the latter.

In the case of the floor engaging U-frame 16, the

' upper ends of the side bars of this frame are shown or riveted pins 35; while the links or struts 20 are shown pivotally connected at their upper ends as by bolts or riveted pins 36 to the upper U-frame 18 and at their lower ends as by bolts or riveted pins 37 to the floor engaging U-frame 16.

The links or struts 19, shown as more upright than the links 20, sustain the upper frame 17 in whatever way adjusted, as for instance in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3, while the links 20 sustain the upper frame 18 in whatever way adjusted, as for instance in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3.

Referring to the bands or straps 26 through the end loops of which the cord or cable 28 is passed as already described, it will be noted that as shown in Fig. 1, said cord or cable, over the lengths thereof designated 28' in Fig. 1, is passed straight through three adjoining loops 27 at each side of the sling 21 without intervening turns around the side bars of the frame 1'7. This frees a portion of the length of the sling for droop at the seat portion thereof so as to comfortably support the occupant.

The back leg fioor engaging U-frame is of the same width as the upper back U-frarne 17, and with the side bars of these frames at each side of the chair in the same plane, one extreme adjustment of said frame 17, as shown in Fig. 2, has the lower free ends of the side bars of said frame bearing down on the side bars of frame 15, with the struts 19 actually or very close to the vertical.

The front leg floor engaging frame 16 is of lesser width than the frames 15 and 17, as also is the forward upper frame 18. These two frames 16 and 18 are of the same width and as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, have their side bars at each side of the chair in the same plane. The links or struts 20, as shown in Fig. 1, are in the same plane as the wider frames 15 and 17. Thus only the links or struts 19 are beyond the lateral limits of the wider U-frames 15 and 17.

The side bars of the forward upper U-frame 18 are upwardly convexly curved adjacent the pivotal connections of these bars to the upper ends of the side bars of the floor engaging U-frarne 15. The portion of the sling 21 ahead of the seat portion thereof is carried by said frame 18 so as naturally to form a forward continuation of the seat portion, smoothly gently curving upwardly for supporting the thighs of the occupant at an upward incline and then dipping downward for supporting the lower parts of the legs at a downward incline. As will be noted from Figs. 2 and 3, said frame 18 is adjustable relative to the floor engaging frame 15 and thus the thighs supporting part of the length of the sling 21 is adjustable relative to the seat portion of the sling.

Thus a chair is provided in which the upwardly backwardly inclined back-forming part of the chair may be lowered as desired toward a selected angle to the horizontal with, at the same time, the legs portions of the occupant wholly comfortably supported.

The close side-by-side arrangement of the four U- frames and connecting links 19 and 2t), and the interpivoting of the two floor engaging frames 15 and 16 at 30, with the narrower frames 16 and 18 disposed within the wider frames 15 and 17, provide bracing of one part by another, overcoming side sway tendencies; yet as has been seen a true contour chair is provided, and an adjustable one, not only at the frame 18 but also at the frame 17 (compare Figs. 2 and 3) and, moreover, an adjustable folding contour chair which is a close folding one.

Figs. 1 and 2 show the chair as ordinarily set up and with the parts arranged in a manner to make it easy for a person to get into the chair. Then, even with the parts arranged as shown in these views, a true contour chair is provided for the occupant. Fig. 3 shows the back frame 17 shifted, as by drop of the weight of the occupants torso, toward a less angle to the horizontal than in Fig. 2, thereby somewhat to elevate the seat portion of the sling 21 and with at the same time the front frame 17 lowered at its forward end to a greater extent than in Fig. 2. In this adjustment of the contour chair, the person occupying the same is lying supine with the knees at or almost as high as the shoulders, for maximum restfulness and relaxing eflect.

Folding is readily accomplished by swinging either the frame 17 or the frame 18 in a direction to cause the end bars of the frames 15 and 16 first to approach each other, toward and to the arrangement of the parts as shown in Fig. 5, and then to the closely folded and compact condition shown in Fig. 4. For this folding operation the frame 17 would be swung in a counter-clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 3, or the frame would be folded in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 3.

In folded condition the chair is easily carried about, it then taking up small space and being made up of few, lightweight parts. All frame parts are in close, approximately parallel relation. Since the upper back frame 17 is non-rigid with the floor engaging front leg lower frame 16, but instead is swingable so as, with the chair folded, to lie closely alongside said lower frame 16 to have the outer end of one of these two frames opposite the outer end of the other, a close folding adjustable contour chair is provided which when collapsed is particularly compact even in regard to its exceedingly short length in collapsed condition.

Attachment of the sling 21 to the various frames can be quickly and easily effected by the cord or cable 18, aided by the loops 27, a freely drooping seat portion is provided adjacent to the cord lengths 28, and secure and dependable mounting of the sling on the three U-frames 15, 17 and 18 is insured.

The entire frame structure can be made of lightweight tubular stock and the chair as a whole may be produced at relatively low cost.

The cross straps 26 with the projecting ends looped at 27 may be secured to the edge portions of the canvas sling 21 by bar tack stitching so as to carry the main load and relieve the canvas of strain or stretch. These load carrying straps, in fact, enable the use of a lighter duck or canvas than might otherwise be practical. Also, they distribute the Weight more evenly and make the chair more comportable.

The upright braces or struts 19 may be extended or equipped with angularly projecting arm rests 40 which in the relation disclosed with these struts at the outer sides of the back frame 17, will fold as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, without adding any or any appreciable bulk to the compacted package. In the relation disclosed the front leg frame 16 and the forward leg supporting frame 18 are of the same width, both of lesser width than the back leg frame 15, as shown in Fig. 1, so that there is no interference in the folding and opening movements of the chair.

What is claimed is:

l. A collapsible, close folding, adjustable contour chair comprising four U-frames, of which two are upper frames and two are lower, floor engaging frames for engaging a floor at their end bars, one of said floor engaging frames being on a forward downward incline and the other of said floor engaging frames being on a rearward downward incline, said two floor engaging frames being pivotally connected at each side of the chair at points intermediate the lengths of their side bars, one of said upper frames being a back frame on a rearward upward incline with its end bar uppermost, said back frame being pivotally connected at points below its said end bar to the upper ends of the side bars of the downwardly forwardly inclined lower frame, the other of said upper frames being a front frame generally forwardly extended with its end bar at its forward end and its side bars pivotally connected with the upper ends of the side bars of the rearward, downwardly inclined lower frame, links at opposite sides of the chair pivotally connecting said back frame and the rearwardly downwardly inclined lower frame, links at opposite sides of the chair pivotally connecting said front frame and the other lower frame, and a body sustaining sling having an upper end secured to and suspended from said end bar of the back frame and a lower end connected with said end bar of the front frame, said sling having loops spaced along its opposite sides, and a flexible member passing through said loops and between various loops wound around various parts of both side bars of the two upper and the rearward lower U-frames, said member being tied together at its ends and said loops being end formations on straps extending across the sling and secured to the underside thereof.

2. A collapsible, close folding, adjustable contour chair comprising four U-frames, of which two are upper frames and two are lower, floor engaging frames for engaging a floor at their end bars, one of said floor engaging frames being on a forward downward incline and the other of said floor engaging frames being on a rearward downward incline, said two floor engaging frames being pivotally connected at each side of the chair at points intermediate the lengths of their side bars, one of said upper frames being a back frame on a rearward upward incline with its end bar uppermost, said back frame being pivotally connected at points below its said end bar to the upper ends of the side bars of the downwardly forwardly inclined lower frame, the other of said upper frames being a front frame generally forwardly extended with its end bar at its forward end and its side bars pivotally connected with the upper ends of the side bars of the rearward, downwardly inclined lower frame, links at opposite sides of the chair pivotally connecting said back frame and the rearwardly downwardly inclined lower frame, links at opposite sides of the chair pivotally connecting said front frame and the other lower frame, and a body sustaining sling having an upper end secured to and suspended from said end bar of the back frame and a lower end connected with said end bar of the front frame, said sling having loops spaced along its opposite sides, and a flexible member passing through said loops and between various loops wound around various parts of both side bars of the two upper and the rearward lower U-frames, said member being tied together at its ends, said member passing straight through a plurality of adjacent loops at each side of the sling opposite the seat portion thereof thereby to free said seat portion for droop intermediate the portions of the sling attached by windings of the said member around said side bars of the back and lower rearward U-frames.

3. Folding chair construction comprising a back leg forming U-frame, a front leg forming U-frame and a forward leg supporting U-frame, both the latter of the same width and of less Width than said back leg forming U-frame, the sides of the front leg forming frame being disposed between the sides of the back leg forming frame, pivotal connections between intermediate portions of the sides of said back and front leg forming U-frames, the sides of the leg supporting frame being disposed between the sides of the back leg forming frame, pivotal connections between the upper end portions of said back leg forming U-frame and rearward leg portions of said leg supporting U-frame, supporting struts in the planes of the sides of the back leg forming frame, pivotally connected between forward end portions of the front leg forming U-frame and said leg supporting U-frame, a back U-frame of the same width as the back leg forming frame having its sides pivotally connected at the lower ends with the upper ends of the sides of said front leg forming U-frame, the lower ends of the sides of said back frame being in line with the sides of the back leg forming frame to cooperate therewith as movement limiting abutments, a sling having an upper end secured to said back frame and a lower end secured to said leg supporting frame and upright supporting struts pivotally connected at their lower ends with the lower portion of the back leg forming frame, and at their upper ends with the back forming frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 139,776 Collignon June 10, 1873 614,370 Cummins Nov. 15, 1898 879,335 Southmayd Feb. 18, 1908 2,630,162 Rechler Mar. 3, 1953 2,696,869 Schlaak Dec. 14, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 18,832 Great Britain Nov. 21, 1890 326,982 Italy June 28, 1935 

